As previously mentioned, Da Vinci Communications, Da Vinci Design, Da Vinci Science, and Da Vinci Connect High School will be conducting a Critical Incident Drill on Thursday, September 23, 2021. This drill is an important part of our continued efforts each year to maintain a safe and secure school environment. The drill will take place at 10:10 a.m. and will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Teachers have been working with students during classes to prepare for this drill.

As part of our safety and emergency procedures, Da Vinci Schools has adopted elements of the “Run-Hide-Fight” program designed to provide various options to our students and staff. Our drill will focus on the “HIDE” component which is also referred to as “shelter in place”. Other components will be practiced during our Fire Drills planned for next month. During tomorrow’s drill, students will have a chance to practice the proper response if a critical incident were to occur such as an intruder on campus or any other incident requiring a lockdown of the school. Please help us by reminding students to:

• Listen and Follow the instructions of their teacher or staff member in the room at the time of the drill
• Stay quiet during the duration of the drill
• Silence/turn off their cell phones and stay off their phone during the duration of the drill
• Wait for the “All Clear” announcement to indicate the drill has concluded

Our School Resource Officer, Officer Josh Gilberts will be joined by other officers from the El Segundo Police Department, members of the El Segundo Fire Department, and our site administrators in observing the drill and providing feedback on our emergency processes and procedures. Staff and students will also debrief after the drill to provide additional input and recommendations in order to continue to improve our response efforts.

Please keep in mind that in order for our schools to remain informed and responsive, parents/guardians and students are always encouraged to report any concerns or potential threats. If you have any questions regarding this drill or any of our other safety procedures, please reply to this email or contact the administration of your child’s school. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support in maintaining the safety and welfare of our students and staff.

You can now view and purchase your child’s school photo! Simply go to this link and look in the folder of your child’s advisory teacher: https://staceelianna.smugmug.com/DaVinciSchools/DVC-Picture-Day-2021

Proceeds from the purchase of your child’s photo support DVC! For students who missed the photo day, makeup photos will be scheduled soon.

Happy Sunday, DVC Families,

A big highlight of last week was the DVC Club Fair we held on Thursday afternoon. There were over 25 student-led clubs for students to check out and join! A big thank you to our student leaders who worked hard to prepare engaging, creative displays about their clubs. We hope that every student found at least one club to spark their interest.

A few updates:

School Site Council: We had our first School Site Council Meeting on Wednesday evening via Zoom. The role of the School Site Council is to obtain recommendations for, develop, approve, and review implementation of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and the Comprehensive School Safety Plan. The meetings are open to the entire DVC community, and all meetings begin with a few minutes reserved for public comment. Meetings will be held via Zoom this year, and our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 20th at 4:30pm. The School Site Council members for the 2021-2022 school year are as follows: 

• Arleen Romero, parent
• Desiree Saddler, parent
• Liza Somilleda, parent
• Jaylon Jones, student, Co-Chair
• Ryan Gardner, student, Co-Secretary
• Ayana Alvarado, student, Co-Secretary
• Andy Galbraith, staff, Co-Chair
• Einstein Lopez, staff
• Jennifer Barba, staff
• Andrew Daramola, staff
• Erin D’Souza, staff

Honors: This week and next week are when teachers are explaining to students what is expected to earn honors. Stay tuned for a blog post about school-wide honors expectations.

Attendance: Next week, parents/guardians can expect to begin receiving automated calls home regarding attendance and absences. If a student is marked absent in any class, automated calls will be going home at two different times of the day in order to update parents/guardians. If you feel that you receive a call in error, please follow up with DVC’s Attendance Manager Pattie Foxman by calling the DVC front office or sending her an email at pfoxman@davincischools.org.

Incident Reporting Form: All members of the DVC community are encouraged to report anything that would contribute to an unsafe or unhealthy learning environment to a DVC staff member as soon as possible. We also wanted to draw your attention to this Incident Reporting Form so that students can anonymously report anything they’d like to the DVC principals. We receive an email when the form is completed, and the form is linked both at dvc.davincischools.org and tinyurl.com/dvcwebsite. All DVC students, parents, and guardians are welcome to contact me via cell phone as well. My number is (310) 350-7192. Please save it in your phone.

COVID-19 Dashboard: Da Vinci Schools now has a COVID-19 Dashboard so that you are aware of our campus statistics. If you have any questions regarding the management of COVID-19 at DVC, please contact our School Nurse, Emily Green, PhD. (egreen@davincischools.org)

FLEX Block: We have begun one of our new initiatives this year: FLEX Block. This period occurs before lunch on Mondays and Tuesdays, and generally replaces our traditional before-school or after-school office hours, allowing students to access teachers of their choice during the school day. Students can log into Edficiency at dvc.edf.school and select where they’d like to go prior to 11:59pm on Sunday evening. We encourage students to select the teachers of the courses in which they need the most support, and we are hopeful that this time allows students to get the help they need to be successful in their classes. Students will receive an email letting them know where they have been scheduled for Monday prior to the start of school.

Please see this week’s schedule at this post and also at tinyurl.com/dvcwebsite.

Hoping that this coming week is a happy and healthy one for you and yours,

Erin D’Souza

Principal

Happy Saturday, DVC Families,

We had another week of engaging learning all over campus! Some highlights included the outdoor lab in Mr. Einstein’s 9th grade Physics class and the gallery walk in Mr. Watson’s Graphic Communications class. We also got everything set up for FLEX Block, a new structure to help students get the support or enrichment they need in order to thrive in their classes. We are excited that Week 5 begins our official launch of FLEX Block!

Please note that students do not have school on Friday, September 17th due to professional development for staff. During our professional development time, the staff will be focusing on creating visual supports to be displayed on our classroom walls. 

A few updates:

School Site Council: The results are in! Parents and guardians have voted and selected the following parents to represent DVC on the School Site Council for the 2021-2022 school year: Arleen Romero, Liza Somilleda, and Desiree Saddler. Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 4:30pm via zoom (link here). All are welcome to attend the meeting, and the first five minutes of the meeting are reserved for public comment.

Supplies & “Homebooks”: We know that many of you have been patiently waiting for school supplies to arrive as well as “homebooks” (i.e. a chromebook for home use) to be distributed. We are pleased to announce that all school supplies have arrived and we have begun distributing those to students who have requested them. We also just received a new shipment of chromebooks, so this will enable us to issue “homebooks” to students this week and next. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we were dealing with shipping delays.

Club Fair: We are excited to host our annual club fair on Thursday, 9/16 during Tuesday/Thursday seminar. All club leaders will be notified next week of their club’s status so they can prepare for the upcoming fair. Please encourage your students to sign up for at least one club at DVC! It’s a great way to get involved and make new friends.

National Hispanic Heritage Month: We are excited to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month starting on Wednesday, September 15th! 

Please see the weekly schedule on this post and also at tinyurl.com/dvcwebsite.

Wishing for a healthy and happy weekend for you and your family,

Erin D’Souza

Principal

Good evening, DVC Families,

Please help us select the parent representatives for this year’s School Site Council by voting for up to 3 of our wonderful parents/guardians: School Site Council Voting Form: Parent Representatives

The voting will be open until 5pm tomorrow evening (Friday, 9/10).

Thank you for your time,

Erin D’Souza

Principal